1. Field of the Invention
The instant invention relates to that field of devices consisting of articles of manufacture known as shoulder supports. Specifically, the instant invention is a shoulder support for both supporting the shoulder joint and assisting in rehabilitation of damaged shoulder joints and the soft tissues surrounding them.
2. Background Information
It is well known in the prior art that the shoulder joint is a weak point in the human skeletal structure. On a daily basis, the shoulder joints will be called upon to act in a wide range of motions, including circumduction, abduction, flexion, extension, adduction and rotation. Unfortunately, a not infrequent occurrence is damage to component parts of the shoulder joint. One of the more common forms of damage is generally known as shoulder dislocation.
Dislocation of the shoulder is a truly painful experience, as anyone who has suffered from the same can testify. Following dislocation, there is usually, in addition to the actual damage to the joint, concomitant bruising and swelling of the surrounding tissue. The healing process may take weeks, months or longer. In some cases, those who have suffered these injuries remain permanently impaired, and subject to repeated dislocations while engaging in simple, physically non-demanding activities. In fact, some of those so injured believe that the injury never completely heals, and find themselves suffering repeated dislocations over time for no apparent reason. For these individuals, strenuous activity is not a prerequisite to shoulder dislocation. The simple act of using one's finger to scratch the back side of one's head may be enough to instigate a dislocation and set back recovery to nearly the point of the original injury.
During the period of recovery from such an injury, it has been a common practice to immobilize the injured area. Such immobilization has been accomplished in a variety of ways, including strapping the entire arm to the body, and rigidly supporting the arm and shoulder.
One serious drawback to such methods is that the complete immobilization of the injured area may lead to certain degrees of atrophy to the surrounding soft tissues. Furthermore, immobilization of the joint which entails immobilization of the entire arm (or at the very least the upper portion of the arm which includes the biceps muscle) is almost certain to result in a degree of atrophy to the arm's associated muscles.
Another serious drawback to complete immobilization of the shoulder joint is that the joint tends to "stiffen" with disuse. Many of those associated with the physical therapy profession have come to accept this drawback and direct much of their energies to assisting the injured person to regaining a full range of motion during rehabilitation following the physical recovery period. In fact, prolonged disuse of the shoulder may well contribute to the onset and or aggravation of arthritis in the joint.
Physical therapy during the recovery period often focuses on strengthening the muscles which surround the joint, supporting the joint and providing the motive forces required to move the joint through its range of motion. Unfortunately, the various forms of braces created to date may do more harm than good when it comes to strengthening shoulder muscles.
Prior art shoulder braces have generally focused on stabilization of the shoulder, and to that end have tended to utilize either rigid brace works or resilient strapping. A fine example of this latter form of brace may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,188,587, "Protective Shoulder Brace", issued on Feb. 23, 1993 to R. McGuire.
The McGuire '587 patent utilized a shoulder/arm cuff which had incorporated onto it four resilient straps, two of which would extend across the ventral and dorsal surfaces of the human body and cross over one another. Following the cross over, these two straps would be removably attached to a circumferential belt strap. The second set of straps would depend downwardly from the device, once again crossing over one another as did the first set of straps, and be removably attached to the circumferential belt strap.
This arrangement works in the manner claimed by its inventor. Unfortunately, Applicant has learned that efficacy of this sort of device declines rapidly once the shoulder injury begins to heal. In fact, Applicant believes that use of this sort of device may actually contribute to long-term shoulder joint difficulties. Because the stated object of the invention, to ensure that the shoulder joint does not dislocate, is accomplished by maintaining a constant force which pushes the components of the joint against one another, it is impossible to train the muscles supporting the joint to bear that weight without the support. In other words, by removing all stress and weight from the shoulder, the device has the unintended effect of weakening the very muscles which need strengthening in order for the joint to adequately heal.
A further disadvantage of the aforementioned device is that the utilization of resilient straps to limit motion (and potential dislocation) prevents the wearer from engaging in gradual self-rehabilitation. For example, Applicant is aware that the simple action of "shrugging" one's shoulders has a certain rehabilitative effect when done frequently over the course of a day. Such rehabilitative effect intensifies when a shoulder support is worn which provides limited resistance to the physical action of shrugging. Unfortunately, the device contemplated in McGuire '587 simply cannot accommodate such exercises. While it is possible for the wearer of the device to slacken the first set and/or second set of straps, such release of tension on the shoulder cuff simply makes the shrug possible while removing the support the device is intended to provide. The device cannot be used as a rehabilitative device in and of itself. It merely provides support to the shoulder in such a way as to permit the wearer to engage in other forms of rehabilitation while wearing it.
Applicant knows of only one other prior art invention which does not rely upon stiff or resilient strapping means to support a damaged shoulder. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,181,906, "Shoulder Joint Bandage", issued to H. Bauerfeind on Jan. 26, 1993, provision is made for an elastic material bandage which may be used to support the shoulder following dislocation injuries. In large part, the patent is directed to providing a bandage which would not cause irritation to the armpit of the wearer. The bandage comprised an elastic material cuff which was attached to a pair of straps. The pair of straps crossed the dorsal and ventral sides of the wearer's body and were stitched to a circumferential belt, the circumferential belt being capable of being cinched tight about the wearer's mid-body, proximate to the diaphragm.
Although it incorporated an elastic material which allowed the bandage to yield somewhat while being worn, the stated form of the bandage tended to allow the muscles of the shoulder joint to atrophy from disuse, and failed to provide any means for keeping the shoulder pulled downwardly. Thus, without any downward force being applied, the shoulder could be shrugged in such a way that not only could some exercise take place, but the entire shoulder could be once again dislocated with relative ease.
It is with these problems and others in mind that Applicant turns now to the solutions provided by her novel invention.